


Just Take My Hand

by DirtbagClifford



Category: 5 Seconds of Summer (Band)
Genre: Alternate Universe - College/University, Cashton, College AU, M/M, Muke - Freeform, athlete!calum, business major!ashton, punk rock!michael, theatre geek!luke, this is one of those shitty aus where a punk rock kid and a theatre kid meet and get together
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2014-10-29
Updated: 2014-11-07
Packaged: 2018-02-23 01:56:39
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 4,255
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2529761
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/DirtbagClifford/pseuds/DirtbagClifford
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Michael lives and breathes music. All he wants is to write and tour with his band. However, rich kids are supposed to go to college, and that's exactly what Michael's parents tell him.</p>
<p>Enter Luke. The kid has probably never smoked a cigarette in his life and can't go a few minutes without making some theatre reference. But damn has he got some steel lungs and the most charisma anyone has ever witnessed.</p>
<p>Michael never stood a chance.</p>
<p>or</p>
<p>the one where michael is in a punk rock band being forced by his parents into college, luke is a really pretty theatre geek and michael can't stop staring at him, and ashton can't stop making goddamn googly eyes at calum.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> so like all great things, this started out of pure boredom in my government class and ended up being a full blown idea. hopefully you enjoy it and give me feedback via comments.
> 
> this chapter is mainly setting things up. Apologies.
> 
> as always, this is fiction. please dont send it to the boys. thanks.

“It’ll be fun, sweetheart. You’ll meet all kinds of new people.” Michael had stayed fairly quiet for the majority of the car ride into Sydney; his mother had not. “I expect you to bring home a pretty girl for the holidays.” She attempted a joke. It only succeeded in pissing Michael off. 

Being in a car with his mother for the whole drive was exhausting, and it left Michael little energy to argue his definite preference for males. Instead he opted for sarcasm. 

“Not if you’re cooking the dinner.” His mother huffed at the comment, but smiled nonetheless. They both knew she was an awful cook. 

As they arrived to the school, Michael realized the building of his dorm was fairly small; smaller than he had anticipated, and he was glad that he’d only brought the bare bones. It had to do partially with his not wanting to go, but also that he’d need to carry everything up himself. Normally his father would’ve come along to help, but he’d been scheduled to work. It was a relief; if Michael’s mother was a poltergeist, his father was the king of Hell himself. The last thing Michael needed on the way was lectures about his life choices and being a man. 

As it turned out, even with the bare minimum amount of luggage, he still needed help. In his hands was his only box, and he carried his acoustic guitar on his back. Honestly, he probably could have managed to carry up his electric guitar, a Dean, on his own. 

“Don’t fuss over it. Besides, I want to see your room.” His mother spoke as she picked his electric up. Michael was almost positive that she just didn’t want to say goodbye yet. For all the annoyance he felt towards her, it was kind of a relief when they began walking together; he didn’t have to do this alone. And yeah, alright. Maybe he wasn’t ready to say goodbye just yet either. 

They arrived to the room and Michael took out the keys he’d been assigned to unlock the door. The room was bare aside from two twin sized beds with a single dresser between them. From the looks of it, his roommate hadn’t been in yet. He set his single box on the right side of the room, farthest from the door, and surveyed the room quickly. White walls and a tiled floor. It felt a bit like a doctor’s office. 

“Well,” his mother spoke, setting the guitar against the wall at the foot of his bed. “It’s a nice place. And you got the choice bed.” She smiled at him. Michael shrugged; he didn’t see a difference in the two sides. 

“It’s a bit small.” He commented, setting the acoustic next to the box. “It’s a good thing we didn’t bring the couch. The door probably wouldn’t open all the way with it in here.” 

They stood in an awkward silence for a minute, neither knowing what to say. Finally his mother took a step forward and opened her arms. 

“I guess that’s it.” She stated, pulling the boy into a tight hug. Her hand rubbed his back lightly. “Do well in classes. Make sure to eat somewhat healthy- cup noodles only twice a week, alright? And don’t stay out too late.” Her voice sounded as if it was on the verge of breaking. She stepped back to look at his face, giving another smile. 

“It’ll be fun.” She repeated the line, and Michael didn’t know if it was to reassure him or her. He nodded and kissed her cheek, mumbling a quick ‘love you, mum’ under his breath. She caught it and smiled, giving him one last hug. 

“Love you too.” 

Once she was gone, Michael began unpacking his belongings. He threw his turtle blanket over the white comforter; his best friend back home, Jay, had given it to him last Christmas and they’d both laughed their asses off over it. Michael couldn’t remember why now. It wasn’t even funny. 

Next he decided to hang the electric above the foot of his bed, on the wall. The acoustic stayed on a stand on the ground, also at the foot. 

It wasn’t until he was hanging a ‘Blink’ poster above his bed that another boy walked into the room. He was a bit shorter than Michael, with tanned skin and dark hair. A single streak of blonde ran down the front of his head. On the boy’s arms were a few visible tattoos. 

He came in carrying two boxes in his arms, laughing at something outside the room. Michael was confused for a moment before a minute later another boy with curly, caramel colored hair stepped in behind the first. This second boy carried a mini fridge in his (rather toned) arms, and Michael grinned; that, they did have room for. 

As if just noticing him, the boy smiled. “Hey,” he greeted as he struggled to hold out a hand past the boxes. Michael took his hand and they shook. “Calum.” The boy said. Michael assumed he meant that was his name. 

“Michael,” he replied as the other placed down his boxes. His gaze wandered to the curly haired boy who was still holding the mini fridge. “Did you want any help with--?” He began to ask, but the boy shook his head and stepped to the back of the room, placing the fridge against the wall. 

“Got it!” The boy beamed before holding out a hand to Michael. “Ashton. I’m not rooming in here or anything. Just helping Cal with his stuff.” He explained as they too shook hands. Michael nodded, noting the way Ashton’s smile went from friendly to blinding as he said ‘Cal’s’ name. It was almost frightening. 

“Cool.” Michael replied as Ashton turned back to the door. 

“Well, if that’s it then, I’ll leave you to unpacking. Meet me at Rosario's at five for pizza, yeah?” Ashton chewed absentmindedly on his lip until Calum gave a nod in his general direction. Then, turning to Michael, the curly haired boy added a quick, “You can come too, if you like.” Then Ashton was gone and the room was oddly quiet again. 

-

Come five o’clock Michael found himself sitting in a booth next to Calum at the local pizza shop. They ate and talked; as it turned out, Calum was a physical education major with a partial scholarship for footie. That explained the jersey he’d been wearing. He was also a sophomore, one year ahead of Michael. 

Ashton was charming. Not in a flirty way, but in a way that made a person want to listen whenever he was talking. Michael thought he’d be perfect for convincing people to buy things. Apparently Ashton had the same idea, because he was a business major and currently working at the campus video store. No scholarship, though, as far as Michael had heard. Also, as Michael discovered, a sophomore. 

It was surprising, really, how quickly they all got on. The pair was definitely not the type of people that Michael would’ve hung out with back home, but he really liked them. Ashton was friendly, and admittedly, kind of weird. It was endearing. Calum was a perfect balance of clever and sarcastic; Anyone quick to assume he was a “knucklehead jock” had another thing coming. More than once, his jokes had Michael laughing hard enough for tears to form in his eyes. 

Once all the pizza was gone, Michael had expected to head back to their respective dorms. It was still light outside but getting a bit late. Instead of going back, Ashton suggested they all kick around a football for a while first. Calum was quick to agree, and Michael followed. It wasn’t as if he had anything to do, anyway. Classes didn’t start for almost another week. 

As they passed the ball, Michael was finding out just how good Calum was at the sport. He never let anything past his goal while he was guarding it, and repeatedly scored on both of the other boys when he wasn’t. Every move he made was calculated and perfectly controlled. 

“It’s a shame Luke isn’t here. Bet he’d enjoy this.” Ashton commented offhandedly, trying to defend the ball from Calum. It was a lost cause, of course. 

Calum snorted. “Yeah, I’m sure.” His eyes rolled slightly. “He’d probably dance around the ball a bit before breaking into song.” They both laughed at that, and Michael felt slightly left out. They’d been really good about not excluding him all night, but he didn’t know this Luke person. 

“Who is Luke?” He asked, deciding to include himself. 

“Just another friend of ours.” Ashton said. 

“Kind of our best friend,” Calum articulated. “Awful at football, though. It’s no fun playing with him.” 

Satisfied with that answer, Michael shrugged and continued playing. He and Ashton devised a plan to gang up on Calum for the ball, which still ended in a loss for them. 

“You’re no fun either, Cal. You’re too good at this.” Ashton said. This time all three of them laughed. 

When they finally decided to put up the ball and get back to the dorms, it was well past dark. The three of them walked to Ashton’s dorm first, chatting the entire way. Then Calum and Michael headed back to their own dorm. By the time Michael had changed and crawled into bed, he was thoroughly exhausted. Sleep came easily.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> this chapter was mainly setting things up. i promise this will start moving really soon.
> 
> find me on tumblr: scootie-mccall  
> AO3 for non-5sos things: Mousky


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry this took so long to update! I've been kind of busy.  
> It's not as long as I wanted. I had more planned, but I cut it a bit short in favor of posting it sooner.

The week progressed pretty normally- adjusting to the campus, visiting the different spots. Friday night, Calum insisted that Michael get dressed and head to a party with him.

“There’s always a big rager the weekend before classes start.” He explained. “Free entertainment and booze.”

Michael shrugged; who was he to turn that down? And so he pulled on a fresh pair of black skinnies, black vans, and a ‘Sex Pistols’ tank before following Calum. The tanned boy looked Michael up and down, smiling. 

“Interesting party look.” Calum had opted for a simple black button down and a pair of gray hip-hugging jeans. On the way out, Michael snagged a worn down black jacket at the last minute. Just in case.

The party was being held in a frat house, Calum explained, and the president was someone named Jake. Apparently, he and the others in the fraternity were responsible for a good percentage of the bigger parties thrown on campus.

“The dude’s parties are freaking crazy. Last year, they had freaking molly-punch. As in, they put molly in their own punch and let anyone drink it. I mean, Luke and I didn’t have any, but it was still pretty wild watching everyone else trip balls.” As Calum spoke, Michael raised an eyebrow in silent admiration. Then Calum’s smile faltered for a moment. “Only thing is, Jake sort of has a temper. Most of their parties end when he gets mad and kicks everybody out.” Calum’s smile was back. “The key is just to leave before that happens.”

Michael took in everything silently. A molly-punch-party throwing frat house with a president with anger issues. It was all very interesting.

They pulled up to the house, but Calum kept going down the street a ways before parking. Once the pair actually got into the house, people began greeting Calum left and right, all hugging him like best friends. Making their way to the back, Ashton stopped them first and flagged them down. Next to him stood a tall blond kid with hair styled up into a quiff. From a distance, the first thing Michael noticed about the kid was his pants. They were tight and a bright blue color. Paired with a simple grey shirt, they didn’t look bad. Still, Michael felt his cheeks heat at the idea of wearing something that demanded attention the way they did. Either the kid was really confident, or really crazy. Or maybe he just didn’t have a clue when it came to social norms.

As they approached the pair, another thing about the boy stuck out to Michael. His _eyes_ were gorgeous. They were deep blue and shining much brighter than the kid’s pants. Looking at them made Michael feel warm all over, and he wanted to just stare for a while. Just a moment more. _Just a moment too long_ , once the boy cleared his throat and raised an eyebrow. Michael blinked, a bit dazed, and gathered himself together. 

“Hey, Ash.” He said, turning to the other boy. Ashton nodded and hugged him using one arm.

“Michael.” Ashton acknowledged him and gestured to the boy with bright pants and pretty eyes standing next to him. “This is Luke. The other best friend.” He explained, and Michael put all the pieces together slowly.

“Oh. The one you told me about the other night?” He asked. Ashton nodded enthusiastically. 

“Talking bad about me, hm?” Luke joked with Ashton. The curly hair boy smiled.

“Absolutely.”

It was then that Calum announced he was going to grab a drink and _did anyone want anything?_ Michael raised two fingers in a silent ‘yes’.

The tanned boy came back a minute later holding two cups. Michael took his and let out a little laugh; red solo cup. How very college-party-esque of them. A moment later he grimaced as he brought the cup to his lips.

“This is terrible.” He said. He took another sip anyways, and then wished he hadn’t. “What the fuck did you put in it?” Calum shrugged at the question.

“I can’t really remember. I just picked up a bottle and then threw some Mountain Dew in with it.” Michael scrunched up his nose; he hated Mountain Dew. The price of convenience was too high, he decided. From now on he would stick to mixing his own drinks.

For a while, the four of them stood there, just chatting. Luke looked out of place compared to the rest of the crowd. Part of it was due to the way his shoulders were hunched over and he kept fidgeting, Michael thought. Neither he nor Ashton had drinks in their hands. When asked about it, Ashton said that he had a doctor’s appointment in the morning and needed to get going early. Luke quietly told Michael that he didn’t drink.

About fifteen minutes in, Ashton announced he’d had enough standing around. 

“Dancing time.” He exclaimed. Luke’s face lit up at this and he grinned, stepping close to Ashton. “Calum? Mikey?” 

Calum shook his head, telling them he needed to use the bathroom. Michael was suspicious of this reasoning, but he decided against throwing the other under the bus. As he was about to follow the example and decline, he looked up. Both Luke and Ashton’s faces were practically begging. He lowered his head as he stepped close to them and followed them out onto the makeshift dance floor. 

Immediately, Ashton and Luke were throwing themselves into it, moving to the beat of the music. It was pounding in Michael ears, and he moved a bit awkwardly and off beat next to the others. He needed more to drink, he decided. Tipping his head back, he didn’t think about it as he downed the poison that Calum had given to him. When he looked back at the other two, the way Luke’s hips were moving made his mouth go dry.

It took a few more songs and a few more shots, but Michael was feeling pretty good. His head was buzzing slightly, his body was warm, and his vision was only slightly delayed. His hips moved easier, as well as the rest of him. Dancing became less of a chore and more of the only thing he wanted to do. He was sandwiched between Luke and Ashton, moving almost against both of them. Calum walked up, then, looking thoroughly hammered. His arms circled around Ashton’s waist, pulling the boy close as Calum whispered something into his neck and laughed. Ashton laughed too, and turned around to properly dance with him. 

Calum looked ridiculous trying to dance. It was almost cute, in a way. Ashton took the lead, then, dancing all around the dark haired boy. Every now and then, Calum would bust out in a really stupid looking dance move, and both Michael and Ashton laughed. 

The redhead turned around and saw that Luke wasn’t paying any attention to the pair. His eyes were closed and a smile spread across his face. His hips were swaying, arms thrown across his head. It was a gorgeous sight.

Almost on cue, Luke opened his eyes and smiled wider at Michael. Michael smiled back. They didn’t dance with each other, exactly. Neither of them touched the other. But they danced, looking at one another. Their eyes never left each other’s as they swayed in time with the music. It was comfortable. Michael remembered how Calum had cracked Ashton up, and decided to try something totally not punk rock (except that Michael was always punk rock, _obviously.)_ He kept his gaze on the blond boy as he busted out the sprinkler; classic.

It worked. Luke was laughing, breaking eye contact for the first time with Michael, and it was pretty goddamn cute. Then, once he’d recovered, the blond did something that surprised the redhead. He was still grinning at Michael as he broke out in what Michael recognized as the Running Man.

_Oh my god._

Michael started laughing now, and wasted no time in throwing his arms out into the Cabbage Patch. Luke replied with the disco.

They went on like this, bringing out every old school, super cheesy dance move they could think of and laughing like maniacs. It was a miracle Michael managed to pull so many dances, given his current slightly impaired state. He was just about running out of ideas when a loud shout of _‘what the fuck’_ sounded over the music. The redhead looked around the dance floor, then back at Luke; The blond’s eyes were wide with fear. 

A moment later, Ashton and Calum appeared next to the pair. Ashton was smiling reassuringly at Luke, placing both hands on the boy’s shoulders. Calum looked very calm.

“Time to go.” He announced, beginning to usher them all across the dancefloor. While they were pushing their way through the crowd, they passed a guy, probably Jake, arguing with a girl. They were yelling at each other and Jake’s face was going red. A minute passed with them still shouting, then he stepped closer and screamed in the girl’s face. She shrank back, her expression changing from anger to fear. Another look at Calum revealed he still looked entirely passive, as if this happened every day. The four boys kept moving.

They finally reached the door and stepped into the cool night air. It was much different than the heat of the house, with sweaty bodies crowded together. Michael shivered, wishing he’d brought his jacket with him. It wasn’t really cold out, but it was a bit chilly for the weather they’d been having.

“The hell was that?” Michael asked as soon as they began walking towards Calum’s car. The tanned boy shrugged.

“I think he got angry that she brought drugs in or something.” 

“But, he, you know? He does drugs, right?” Luke’s voice was quiet but steady as he questioned Calum. The tanned boy shrugged again; It was beginning to irritate Michael.

“Dude’s got anger issues,” was all Calum said.

It was like deja vu when they reached Michael’s car. They all stood awkwardly, unsure of what to do next. Ashton was the first to voice his thoughts.

“So. What next?”

They all looked around at each other. Ashton opened his mouth again like he had an idea, but then shut it. Almost too quietly to hear, Luke suggested they could just call it a night. Calum shook his head at this.

“I’m too hyped up to go back to the dorms. I want to go out and do things tonight.” The raven haired boy spoke, swaying back and forth on his feet.

They threw around a few more ideas- going to a late night diner ( _but I’m not hungry,_ Ashton had complained.), trying to find another party going on; _“but who would be stupid enough to have a party the same night as Jake?”_ Calum asked a bit bitterly.

In the end, they decided to go to an old park nearby. Luke’s eyes had gone all big as he asked if it was closed already. Calum and Ashton shared a look that said it didn’t matter. Fences had foot-sized holes for a reason.

Calum claimed he was fine to drive, but Ashton badgered the boy until he handed over his keys. Michael went with Ashton in Calum’s car, and Luke followed the pair in Ashton’s car with Calum riding shotgun. They didn’t worry about being caught, parking right in the lot. Even Luke seemed to relax a bit as they all took turns jumping over the fence.

As soon as they were in, everyone but Ashton made a beeline for the swings. Luke got there first, followed closely by Michael, and then Calum. It wasn’t the most daring thing ever to be done, but the park had been a good call. The three of them competed to see who could get the highest while Ashton grumbled about no one going on the slide with him. In the end, he ended up judging their little competition; A wide smile grew on Luke’s face when he was crowned the winner.

A bit more swinging, and Michael was beginning to feel dizzy. He was still slightly intoxicated. Not drunk, but lightly buzzed. He slowed to a stop on his swing, instead opting to sit on the bench near the middle of the park. After enough of Ashton’s bitching, Calum finally went to go slide with him. This left only Luke on the swings, humming softly to himself.

Michael climbed up on top of the bench and laid flat on his back. The night sky was clear and pretty. There weren’t many stars to see, but the ones that were out shined brighter than the redhead had thought was possible. After a few minutes, there was some rustling and then the sound of someone sitting near him. Michael turned his head and smiled when he saw Luke. 

“Hey.” He murmured lazily. Luke uttered the word back. They just sat comfortably in silence for another couple minutes, until Michael finally spoke. “Pretty.”

“Hm?” Luke made a questioning noise.

Michael laughed. He wasn’t sure what he’d be thinking about a moment ago. “The sky? Stars, maybe? Your eyes.” He laughed quietly to himself. He wasn’t trying to hit on the blonde boy; his eyes were just genuinely gorgeous. 

Luke smiled. “My eyes are pretty?”- Like it was even seriously a question. Michael just nodded.

They started an actual conversation, then. The kind you start when you first get to know a person: Luke’s favorite food was pasta. Michael liked pizza. Luke read Rainbow Rowell novels; Michael didn’t read much. Luke was majoring in theatre on a scholarship (goddamn these impressive people), Michael was a music theory and comp major.

“You must really love music, huh?” Luke asked quietly. Michael frowned at the question.

“No- well, yes. I do. But, I mean, that’s not why I’m majoring in musical theory. I love music, but college is really just something my parents wouldn’t let me out of.” Michael tried to explain the best that he could, but realized he just sounded like a prick. _Yes, I know you had to work your ass off to get here, but my super rich parents just made me come._ The redhead snorted; he was such a brat. Still, the only thing Luke did in reaction was make a sympathetic noise. When he did speak, it wasn’t what Michael expected to hear.

“What would you be doing if it was your choice?”

No one had ever asked Michael that question. No one had probably ever cared, because no one was under the impression that he would have a choice.

The redhead smiled up at the sky. “I would be making music with my band. We still play shows and write songs, but it’s not what I want. I want to be out on the road, playing for people everywhere.”

“You’re in a band?” Michael nodded silently as Luke spoke. “What kind of band?”

“The Dirtbags. We’re a punk band.” He explained. For a moment he considered inviting Luke to one of their upcoming shows, but decided to keep quiet about it. It didn’t seem like Luke’s scene. 

“Can I come see you guys sometime?” Luke asked. Michael smiled again to himself.

“As long as you wear normal colored pants.”

They both laughed. By the end of the night, the two were acting like they’d been friends much longer than they had. Luke put his number in Michael’s phone and Michael did the same for Luke’s. They waited until Ashton believed Calum was alright to drive to leave the park. 

Later that night, Luke texted Michael to invite him to one of his theatre productions. Michael had never been to one, and it didn’t sound like something he’d enjoy. However, he couldn’t even begin to imagine hurting the blond’s feelings, so he agreed to go. A dumb smile was stuck on his face.

“Just so you know, dude, he’s straight.” Calum had said, looking at Michael. Michael shook his head.

“It’s not like that.” 

_It’s not like that,_ he told himself.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Nothing too significant happened, again. Apologies. The plot will actually move soon, I swear.  
> Let me know what you think via comments!
> 
> find me on tumblr: scootie-mccall  
> AO3 for non-5sos stuff: Mousky


End file.
